Structure

The UPTAKE Steering Group makes strategic decisions concerning the project and the development of the consortium. The Steering Group plays a key role in determining the scientific foci and priorities of the consortium and provides input and feedback to individual work packages.

The work of the UPTAKE project is divided into six work packages (WPs). Each package performs a particular set of activities. The six packages and their main objectives are the following:

WP 1 Management is responsible for the overall planning and management of the work of the consortium, the coordination of work between the individual work packages, and financial management, as well as coordination and communication with the European Commission. The work package is led by Dr Piret Ehin (University of Tartu).

WP 2 Annual Conference is responsible for organizing an annual conference on Russian, Eurasian and East European Studies in Tartu that brings together leading experts in the field. The work package is led by Prof Viacheslav Morozov (University of Tartu).

WP 3 Academic Mobility and Staff Exchange is responsible for arranging academic mobility between the three partner institutions, as well as supporting the participation of consortium scholars in the major international conferences in the field. The work package is led by Dr Heiko Pääbo (University of Tartu).

WP 4 Collaborative Projects and Workshops is responsible for facilitating research collaboration among scholars from the three partner institutions and beyond. The work package is led by Prof Stefan Hedlund (Uppsala University).

WP 5 Summer and Winter Schools is responsible for organizing advanced training schools for PhD students, post-doctoral fellows and young scholars from the three partner institutions, as well as the broader region. The work package is led by Prof Elena Korosteleva (University of Kent).

WP 6 Dissemination and Communication is responsible for disseminating project results to a range of stakeholder groups and the general public, as well as coordinating and managing external and internal communication of the consortium. The work package is led by Maili Vilson (University of Tartu).

Event Details

Event Details

Democracy, Truth and the Perils of Information Age

On 6 December 2017 at 12.15 at the Assembly Hall of the University of TartuDoes democracy need protection from disinformation?

In today’s world, new digital tools and the global reach of social media platforms have brought along a transformation of lifestyles: we order goods and services by a few clicks in an app, we rely on GPS to take us home, we prefer online sources to newspapers, and we rely on instant messages and social media to keep up with the lives of relatives, colleagues and friends. This requires us to be constantly available online, ready to receive and make sense of endless flows of information. We have come to lead our entire lives online and this has made us vulnerable.

While the perils of information age have been known for a long time, recent debates have focused on the viability of democracy in an age where everyone can easily create and disseminate information on a mass scale. The problem of “post-truth” is aggravated by the borderless world of the internet and the global reach of social media platforms. Democratic societies have limited tools to counter the threats posed by disinformation, lies and propaganda. How to control the spread of disinformation without restricting democratic principles? How to distinguish between trustworthy and non-trustworthy sources of information? How to ensure that people, the supreme sovereign, base their political decisions on information that bears at least some semblance to reality?

The lecture and the following discussion will feature two distinguished communication experts.

The lecture series “Kapuściński Development Lectures”, named for Ryszard Kapuściński, a Polish reporter and writer who covered developing countries, is organized jointly by the European Commission, the United Nations Development Programme and the Johan Skytte Institute of Political Studies of the University of Tartu. The project is funded by the European Commission.

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In her talk,

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In her talk, Professor Julia Mannherz will investigate the close connection between spirituality and modernity. Although the nineteenth-century is usually described as an age of scientific and technological progress, it is also one of religious revival. One aspect of modern religiosity is a heterodox search for spiritual meaning that aimed to bridge the divide between tradition and progress. In this talk, Prof. Mannherz will focus in particular on spiritualism and on the reception to it among Russian Orthodox theologians.

Julia Mannherz is Professor at the University of Oxford. She works on nineteenth- and early twentieth-century cultural history of the Russian empire and is especially interested in interdisciplinary approaches. Her recent book “Modern Occultism in Late Imperial Russia” (Northern Illinois University Press 2012) analyzes the widespread fascination with the supernatural in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Russia and its role in contemporary discussions about science, folklore, literature and theology.

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Within the framework of the

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Within the framework of the H2020 UPTAKE Project, we are happy to announce a Call for Applications for the third UPTAKE PhD Training School, to be held from 9 to 13 January 2018 at the Brussels School of International Studies, University of Kent, Brussels (Belgium). Its main objective is to offer an opportunity for research development, training and exchange of ideas for PhD and Postdoctoral students working in the field of Russian and East European Studies.

In order to apply, please fill in the application form below, including a brief abstract of 150 to 200 words, and return it to Camilla Edemann Callesen until Wednesday 1st November 2017 via ce259@kent.ac.uk and include “UPTAKE TS BSIS 2018” in the subject line.

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This thematic workshop will focus

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This thematic workshop will focus on patterns, trends and transformations characterizing ethnic relations, ethnopolitics and conflict resolution in contemporary Central and Eastern Europe. The workshop has a cross-regional focus and aspires to attract a wide range of area experts with a specialization in Southeast Europe, the ‘Visegrad Four’, Baltic states, Ukraine and other parts of the post-Soviet space.

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The Third Annual Tartu Conference

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The Third Annual Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies will take place on 10-12 June 2018 at the University of Tartu, Estonia.

Scholars working in all subfields of area studies, including comparative politics, international relations, economics, history, sociology, anthropology, cultural studies and related disciplines, are invited to submit proposals for panels, roundtables and papers for the Third Tartu Conference on Russian and East European Studies. The deadline for abstracts is 20 February 2018.

The year 2018 marks a century since the introduction of nation-statehood as the main frame for political, cultural and economic life for the peoples of Eastern Europe, Russia and Eurasia. While the discursive and cultural roots of nationhood go back at least another one hundred years, until the First World War the region was dominated by three multi-ethnic empires. Their collapse was a decisive moment which established popular sovereignty as the key organizing principle. Its implementation, however, took decades and, in more than one sense, is still incomplete. While remaining the principal foundation for democracy, nation-statehood continues to present a broad range of intellectual challenges until this day. Reflecting on the evolution of nation-statehood allows us to shed new light on many of the challenges the region faces today.

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Funded from the EU Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 691818 "Building Research Excellence in Russian and East European Studies at the Universities of Tartu, Uppsala and Kent". The content reflects only the authors’ views, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.